The Devil's Triangle
by NickyM96
Summary: Mulder's experiences before being rescued. Written for Mulder's Refuge June "All At Sea" Challenge. Spoilers: Triangle


TITLE: The Devil's Triangle  
  
RATING: G  
  
SPOILERS: Triangle  
  
SUMMARY: Mulder's experiences before being rescued. Written for Mulder's Refuge June "All At Sea" Challenge.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own therapeutic purposes. They will be returned relatively unharmed to Chris Carter, or whoever wants to borrow them next, when I'm done.  
  
- - - - - - - - - -  
  
He sinks lower and lower into the murky darkness, the coldness seeping straight through to his bones. How ironic that something usually life saving is having the opposite effect on him now. Water. Tons of it. If he could look around, it's all he would see. But he can't look around. He can't even move, can't breathe. It would only kill him that much faster.  
  
Over the years, Fox Mulder has found himself in a lot of trouble, more at some times than at others. But all those times have included the assurance that Scully would rescue him. This time, she doesn't even know where he is. He doesn't even know where he is. How can he expect her to be able to find him?  
  
"You've done it again. How do you get yourself into these situations?" an exasperated voice asks him. The voice is unexpectedly clear, considering he's underwater. And unexpectedly familiar.  
  
"Scully?" A picture of her forms in his mind and he's instantly worried that she's in the same trouble he's in. His own problems seem to vanish at the thought of her in danger. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm not your partner, you dimwit. I'm your conscience."  
  
"My conscience? But you sound just like Scully."  
  
"Well is it any wonder? She's the only one you'll listen to anyway."  
  
Mulder tries to laugh and is shocked to discover that despite being underwater, he can do so very easily. He opens his eyes and looks around, finding that he isn't in the dark place anymore. He's no longer surrounded by water trying to force its way into his lungs.  
  
"Where am I?" he asks nervously. His eyes land on an ethereal figure standing right in front of him. Not only does his conscience sound like Scully, but it looks like her as well. "Am I dead?"  
  
"Not quite, but you're close. Of all the stupid, brainless ideas you've ever had, this is by far the worst. What possessed you to come out into the middle of the ocean looking for a ghost ship without even mentioning it to your partner?"  
  
"Are you sure you're not Scully?" Mulder quips, withering from the look the specter shoots him. It's far scarier than any look Scully has ever given him.  
  
"Shut up and listen to me. You don't have much time."  
  
Mulder can tell by the tone that this is serious and decides to pay close attention.  
  
"You're not dead, but you are dying. Drowning to be exact," his conscience continues.  
  
"Then help me!" Mulder panics. "Get me out of here."  
  
"I can't. That's not what I'm here for. I'm just here to help you hold on until you're rescued. If you're rescued."  
  
"And if I'm not rescued?"  
  
"Then consider this the final episode of 'This is Your Life', Fox Mulder." The figure shoots him a sympathetic glance before turning to look at a screen that magically appears before them. The images on the screen start and he's confused that it only includes his time on the X-Files, starting with the moment Scully walked into that basement and introduced herself to him.  
  
"We're not starting at the beginning?" he asks without looking away from the screen. A smile comes to his face at the glimpses of a young Scully on some of their earlier cases. He expected to see scenes from his birth and of him growing up. But he can't deny the joy in his heart at seeing his partner. He can accept her being the last thing he ever sees.  
  
"It's no need. Your life only truly began the moment you met her. It would be a pity to leave her now."  
  
The images continue and Mulder just watches, enjoying the evolution of their partnership from barely tolerating each other to friendship to something even deeper. He knows that it's love and is suddenly very sorry he never told her.  
  
"She doesn't know that you love her."  
  
Mulder jerks his head up to deny the allegations, but realizes he'd only be lying essentially to himself.  
  
"Wouldn't be the first time," his conscience says, a grin on its face. "You lie to yourself all the time. Every time you refuse to acknowledge the love you have for your parnter or every time you refuse to see the love she has for you."  
  
"I keep forgetting that you're me. That you know everything I know," Mulder chuckles.  
  
"And everything you won't even admit to yourself. You love her. And you have to tell her."  
  
"I have to tell her," he agrees, nodding his head as becomes more sure of the idea. He looks up to tell his conscience his decision when suddenly the room is plunged into darkness again. He jerks at the shock of the feeling of cold water surrounding. In a panic he takes a deep breath, the frigid water filling his lungs.  
  
"Scully," is the last thought on his mind as he finally succumbs to his apparent watery grave.  
  
The deep breath he's able to take surprises him. He opens his eyes to a room full of people with very worried expressions on their faces. They tell him a crazy story about him searching for a ghost ship and nearly drowning.  
  
Pieces of his adventure slowly start to come back to him. He swears to Scully that he saw a 1939 version of her. She looks at him as if he's crazy and starts to leave, telling him to get some rest. Just as she's leaving, something else comes back to him. A promise he made to himself if he survived his ordeal.  
  
"Hey Scully," he calls out to her, bringing her back into the room. He sits up on his elbow as she leans over the bed to him.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
He just stares at her for a moment, gathering his nerve. But a promise is a promise and he refuses to let another day go by without telling her. So he just goes for it.  
  
"I love you."  
  
He's practically rejoicing on the inside. He can see his conscience give him a mental high five. He did it. He finally did it. Now, he just waits and listens for the words he's been waiting to hear from her.  
  
"Oh brother," she mutters, rolling her eyes and walking from the room.  
  
Huh? Those weren't the words he expected. She apparently didn't believe him. But the drugs he's on soon has him drifting back into a hazy wonderland. He'll try again tomorrow . . . if he remembers.  
  
The end. 


End file.
